Health was a major issue for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. It’s among the chief reasons many believe caused the Cavs to underperform, particularly in the second-round series against Tyrese Haliburton and company, where Darius Garland sat out the first two games due to a toe issue.
On Monday, Garland finally went under the knife to repair his hurting toe, as announced by the Cavs through their official website:
“Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland underwent successful surgery today to repair his great toe injury. The procedure was performed by Dr. Nicholas Strasser at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in consultation with Cavaliers team doctor, Dr. James Rosneck (Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine), and Dr. Bob Anderson (OrthoCarolina). His status will be updated as appropriate, following a progression of treatment and rehabilitation in approximately 4-5 months. Garland is expected to make a full recovery and resume basketball activities by the start of training camp.”
As mentioned in the Cavs’ statement, Garland will miss multiple months. Following that given timeline, there’s a big possibility that Darius Garland will be forced to sit out not just games in the preseason but also in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. At the same time, Cleveland’s update on Garland’s injury also implies that Garland will be able to do several activities on the court.
“Darius could miss 10 (regular season) games,” a league source said, per Vardon.
In the event that Garland, first-round pick in the 2019 NBA draft, sits out that many games to begin the next season, the Cavaliers will have a tougher challenge to match the blazing start they had in the 2024-25 campaign, in which Cleveland won 15 games in a row before absorbing its first loss. During that 15-game span, Garland averaged 21.4 points on a 52.5 percent shooting from the field and 45.5 percent from behind the arc, 7.0 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals.
Garland, who turned just 25 years old last January, is under contract with the Cavs until the end of the 2027-28 season. He signed a five-year contract extension worth north of $197 million in 2022 and amid trade rumors, is still viewed as a pillar of Cleveland’s backcourt along with Donovan Mitchell.
